Self Care

Low self-esteem is the major cause of negative thinking. Negative thinking can lower your self esteem even further creating a vicious cycle where you’re constantly feeling bad about yourself. But the good news is that you don’t have to stay in this rut. You can overcome the vicious cycle of negative thinking and low self esteem. When you’re able to overcome negative thinking, your self esteem will naturally improve. You’ll boost your self confidence and feel far more optimistic about your life, no matter what you might be going through.

If you’re ready to break the cycle of negativity, you need to understand these essential truths.

Actions follow thoughts

Your actions always begin with your thoughts. If you think you’re hopelessly overweight and destined to stay that way, then it doesn’t matter how many diet books you buy or blogs you read, you’re still going to struggle. The fact is that you’ll stay overweight because you haven’t changed your mindset.

If you want to change something in your life, you’ll have to change your thoughts first. Instead of thinking that you’re destined to be overweight, work on changing your thinking. Try saying to yourself that you’re in control of what you eat and how much. Doing this changes the story you’re telling yourself. You just went from the victim in this story to the victor.

Change Your Mental Outlook

You are the only one with the power to change your mental soundtrack. Just because you have some negative thoughts doesn’t mean you have to listen to them. You alone have the power to change your focus. Instead of concentrating on the terrible day you had, start thinking about a simple pleasure – a serendipity – that you’ve been anticipating like getting to change into your yoga pants or flannel pants tonight or hearing your son’s laughter during a silly bedtime game. By focusing on what’s positive, you’re teaching yourself to let go of negative thoughts.

Remember Garbage In, Garbage Out

It’s hard to stay positive if you’re constantly consuming negative information. Watch your social media consumption. If you really want to change your negative self-talk, then you have to focus on consuming good stuff. You want to read and watch content that lifts you up. Not only will you feel better, you’ll notice that your self-talk is more optimistic when you focus on the good.

Practice positive affirmations

What you say about yourself will become your truth. That’s why it’s really helpful to practice positive affirmations every day. Begin by looking in the mirror and telling yourself something like “I’m in charge of how I feel today and I choose happiness.” When you speak these positive affirmations out loud, they’ll begin to affect how you talk to yourself and how you live out your life.

Everyone struggles with negative thinking at some point in their life. The important thing to remember is not to beat yourself up when you’re in a mental rut. Accept that you had a negative thought, then just push it away and replace it with a positive one.

Creating a healthier lifestyle for your family requires dedication and intention, and getting it from a goal to reality can be very difficult. One of the biggest obstacles you’ll face from is resistance. Transitioning your family to healthier foods after years of processed and junk foods is going to be hard for everyone.

It’s really helpful to have family friendly options that your family won’t shun. One of the best ways to do this is to build up a collection of cookbooks that cater to healthier cooking choices (without getting too weird!)

Here’s some healthy cookbook recommendations that will help you to create healthier meals for your family:

Sometimes children can see a vegetable a mile away and then they refuse to eat anything on the plate. Or maybe that have sensory issues and are incredibly picky. This cookbook is a great way to incorporate more vegetables into your family’s diet without them realizing it!

One easy way to get your children to eat dinner is to include them in cooking preparation. The Kids Fun and Healthy Cookbook will help get your kids in the kitchen that makings cooking healthy meals fun and easy.

A must have cookbook list wouldn’t be complete without at least one slow cooker recipe book. Slow cookers offer easy cooking with minimal prep This cookbook offers busy moms the opportunity to give their family a home cooked meal at night without all the canned ingredients that a lot of the other slow cooker recipe books include. And there’s options for paleo, vegan and gluten free diets too.

I do have to mention Instant Pots. They’ve become an integral part of our lives and have restored dinnertime sanity! This is a basic, family friendly cookbook that will get dinner on the table in no time!

I love Trim Healthy Table and use it all the time! It even has an Instant Pot/pressure cooker section. For a family who is looking for a more carb conscious lifestyle, it’s hard to beat this and the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

I’d be lost without my cookbooks. They’ve been an essential part of transitioning to a healthier lifestyle. However, every family’s needs are different, so take some time to research the cookbooks that will help you to get to your goals.

If you’re a person who struggles with a consistent negative mindset, don’t worry…you can turn that around with some intention. There are lots of ways that you can do this but one of the best things you can do is to fill your mind with uplifting content. Positive podcasts are a great way to improve your mindset and get yourself out of a slump.

Mindset is how you perceive the world, yourself, and the circumstances around you and how you let it impact you. Whether positive or negative, your mindset affects every aspect of your life. If you have a negative mindset, you’ll experience a host of negative side effects in your life. But if your mindset if mostly positive, you’re more likely to experience positive effects in your life.

The following podcasts will help to help challenge the way you think and start living more positively. If you live with chronic illness like I do, you probably have a lot of down time and that can get pretty depressing. But you can use this time to boost your mindset, even if you’re stuck in bed. You can also make the time to listen to positive podcasts when you’re driving, in the car line, in the doctor’s office, or when you’re resting. Be intentional about it and you’ll be surprised at how much time you can make to improve your mindset!

5 Positive Podcasts to Improve Your Mindset

The Brendon Show with Brendon Burchard

Brendon Burchard is a motivational speaker and coach. He founded both the High Performance Academy and Experts Academy. He’s also the author of several best-selling books including High Performance Habits and The Motivation Manifesto.

In 2014, he launched a podcast called The Charged Life but later changed the name to The Brendon Show. His episodes focus on what he’s learning and doing in his own life as well as tips on motivation, personal development, and more.

Tiny Leaps, Big Changes with Gregg Clunis

Gregg Clunis is an entrepreneur and coach living in New York City. He became interested in personal development when he was a teenager and began reading books on the topic. In 2015, he launched his podcast Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where he talks about wellness, motivation, and personal growth strategies. Many of his episodes are short, ranging from just a few minutes to forty minutes. So grab a few minutes when you can and listen to Gregg!

Best quote: “All big changes come from the tiny leaps you take every day.”

The Daily Boost with Scott Smith

Scott Smith spent many years working on a radio station, encouraging others. Then he discovered podcasting and decided to start motivating people online. His podcast The Daily Boost became the world’s most popular daily motivation podcast. It quickly became a full-time business that he feels blessed to run. Scott has an engaging style and a soothing voice. Every Monday, he delivers a new edition of The Daily Boost. Each episode is under 15 minutes, so they’re easy to listen to even if you’re on the go.

Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey

Do you love bulletproof coffee? I do! The creator of bulletproof coffee, Dave Asprey is a powerhouse entrepreneur and author. He started and several successful companies before he created Bulletproof Coffee, a type of coffee drink that’s flavored with butter and/or coconut oil that’s hugely popular in the keto world. Dave then went on to launch Bulletproof Radio. His podcast focuses on “biohacking” or improving your own health through smart nutrition, mindset, and biochemistry.

The Lively Show with Jess Lively

Jess Lively is an entrepreneur who launched her first business as a teenager. She created and sold her own jewelry for years before becoming a business coach and helping other entrepreneurs. In 2014, she launched The Lively Show, a weekly podcast. On the show, she covers many topics like parenting, blogging, business, and more. But the overall theme of the episodes is living intentionally and being mindful.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin is an author living in New York City. When she’s not busy writing, Gretchen is podcasting. Her show is called Happier with Gretchen Rubin and it features her sister as her co-host. Together, the two inspiring women have fascinating conversations about habits, happiness, and human nature.

You can improve your mindset and experience true personal growth by filling your mind with inspiration from positive podcasts every day!

Do you recharge yourself as diligently as you recharge your phone? If you’re a go getter who gives 110% to everything that you do, here’s a gentle reminder that not only should you work hard, but also play hard. It’s vitally important to create balance in your life.

It’s perfectly okay to work hard and then play hard. (If that means sleep all day to you…go for it!) You’ve earned this time to unwind and recharge yourself however you see fit. Don’t feel guilty about taking this time out, especially if it’s been a hard day, week or month. You must take that time out to unplug from everything and recharge yourself.
Recharging is exactly what this is about. No matter how positive you might be feeling in the morning, hours of dealing with negativity, stress and constant demands can leave you feeling completely drained…sometimes even by noon!

There are lots of ways to recharge yourself. If you like to work hard, you might want to play just as hard. Losing yourself in some healthy fun is a great way to give yourself a mental boost. But if you recharge best by sitting on the beach, sleeping in or taking a really long nap, then go for it. If you’re overdue for a vacation, plan one that’s relaxing with no agenda and no obligation.

Scheduling or taking some time away from work reminds you why you’re working so hard in the first place. We all want to be able to enjoy the fun things with our loved ones. After a fun vacation or even just a day out and about doing things with your family, you’ll be reminded of this truth and will be that much more motivated to keep working hard and providing for your loved ones. Now, being able to go on a great trip or buy a fun new toy like some new athletic equipment is another great motivator to keep working hard and bringing the money in when you’re not busy playing hard.

Playing is actually good for the brain. So is taking a break from the day to day responsibilities of work and home. It allows your brain to wander and mull things over in your subconscious. So don’t be surprised to come back from a few days of play and vacation and find that you’ve come up with a great solution for that problem that’s been bugging you.

Taking some time to recharge yourself will help you to refocus and renew your priorities.

It’s hard to get away from all the evidence pointing to the dangers of sugar consumption. Even if you stay away from candy and yummy bakery items, sugar is hidden in just about everything including condiments, breads and even canned foods. But despite all the warnings, sugar consumption has skyrocketed in many households. Following are 5 reasons why you should do a total sugar detox.

Sugar Will Spike Your Insulin Levels

Within minutes of eating sugar, your blood sugar will become elevated. While your body needs glucose to function, too much of it is toxic to your system. Consistently elevated sugar levels will slow decrease the ability of your pancreas to make insulin. This causes the pancreas to overcompensate with the end result of elevated insulin levels. And over time, the pancreas will become permanently damaged. This process picks up speed as you pass age 40.

Consuming Sugar Makes You Gain Weight

The more sugar you consume the more likely you are to be suffering from insulin resistance. This causes the dreaded midlife belly fat which is extremely dangerous to your overall health, resulting in increased risk for high blood pressure, full blown diabetes and inflammation throughout the body.

Baby boomers grew up hearing health authorities advise consumers to lower fat intake. The food industry was happy to provide us with all kinds of low fat and fat free food options. But since these usually tasted awful, they had to add lots of sugar in order to keep consumers happy.

Next time you’re out shopping, compare regular and low fat or fat free salad dressing. You’ll notice that lower fat options have a lot more carbs and sugar. You may not taste it, but it’s definitely there. Our tastebuds are wired for more sugar. And since sugar is more quickly digested than fat, you’ll be hungry sooner after consuming a low fat meal and you eat again. It’s a vicious cycle, and the end result is unwanted weight gain.

Too Much Sugar Harms Your Body

With all that increased sugar and weight gain comes a higher risk for diabetes and a condition called metabolic syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome is a group of symptoms and behaviors that put you at a much higher risk of developing heart disease and Type II diabetes. Untreated, this can lead to further damage including kidney disease, strokes, vision loss, nerve damage, poor circulation and slow wound healing.

You’ll be thankful to know that these conditions are reversible and the first step toward better health is to cut out the sugar. Take action now to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as you can.

Sugar Causes Tooth Decay

Sugar is terrible for oral health including tooth decay and gum problems. Untreated oral problems can also lead to an increased risk of heart disease.

Sugar Has Zero Nutritional Value

Finally, it’s important to remember that aside from a little boost of temporary energy, sugar doesn’t provide any nutritional value to your body. If you want something sweet, you’re much better off grabbing a piece of fruit than a cookie. That being said, sometimes you want that cookie no matter what. Read on to learn what you can do!

How Do You Get Started with a Sugar Detox?

Learn how to cook low carb or Paleo style. Baked goods are typically made with almond flour, coconut flour and use honey or coconut sugar as a sweetener. A quick Pinterest search will give you dozens of yummy ideas. The food plan that I’ve been using, Trim Healthy Mama, recommends using stevia, erythritol or xylitol (note to pet owners…don’t buy xylitol. It’s toxic to your dogs.)

If you need to lose weight, the first thing you want to cut out is sugar and all refined carbohydrates. They will cause spikes in your blood sugar, which will make your body produce a large amount of insulin to pull the sugar out of your system (and convert it to unwanted body fat). The unfortunate effect of that process is that your blood sugar goes on a roller coaster ride that will leave you hungry and craving more sugary treats. It’s a vicious cycle but it is one that you can overcome.

It’s been said that sugar cravings are a form of chemical dependency. Be eliminating this toxin from your lifestyle, you’ll feel better, lose weight and enjoy improved overall health.

You’ve probably noticed that coloring books is a thing right now, and an extremely popular one at that. To me, coloring seems like the perfect antidote to our stressed digital lives. It takes us back to a simpler time. There are many health and psychological benefits of coloring.

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was hide away in my room and sketch and draw for hours. With no digital distractions, it was easy to get lost in it. But as I grew older, I grew dissatisfied with my work and never felt like it was good enough. To make things worse, I tried to get into an specialized art school but didn’t make it, and I stopped after that. However in my midlife years, I’ve begun to take it up again.

Mindful coloring is really a very simple concept. It is the art of coloring while practicing mindfulness. Being mindful is all about being in the moment, being engaged and involved in what’s going on around you. Unfortunately, mindfulness has become a lost art in our day with the ubitquous presence of cell phones along with social media and a 24 hour news cycle. We sadly miss out on the basic pleasures and simple joys of life because we’re so busy multitasking.

Adult coloring is a great way to bring back some of those simple pleasures.

How is Coloring Mindful?

Mindful coloring is great for stress reduction. Think about it..when you’re busy coloring, you’re just doing one thing. More than likely, you just want to focus on coloring and not check your phone, do housework or watch TV. As you focus on one thing, you’ll clear your mind of everything as you pick colors and focus on what you’re doing.

Mindful Coloring Can Be A Teaching Tool

The simple act of coloring can teach your to create better habits in other parts of your life. Mindful coloring allows you to learn to clear the junk out of your mind and focus on the task at hand, the act of coloring. And as you learn to focus and be mindful while coloring, you’ll learn beneficial tool to practice mindfulness in every area of your life.

Mindful Coloring Relieves Stress

One of the biggest benefits of mindful coloring is the way it relaxes you. You’re no longer focused on all the things that overwhelm and worry you. You’re focusing on something simple and childlike and it greatly reduces whatever’s troubling you. One of the big reasons for the popularity of coloring books is that it’s a great way to calm down and find focus.

Coloring is beneficial for anyone. It isn’t just for kids! Once you realize how beneficial mindful coloring is, you’ll return to it for stress relief, as a creative outlet and simple meditation. Coloring can be a great part of your self care toolbox, but if you live with serious mood disorders, please seek the help of a competent professional.

One of the most important decisions you’ll need to make in terms of ongoing health and fitness is what the best eating plan to lose weight is for you. There are SO MANY eating plans to choose from. How do you know what works and what doesn’t? And more importantly, which one are you likely to stick with for the long term?

New food fads pop up all the time. It can be really tempting to jump on yet another diet band wagon. Let’s narrow the options down to eating plans that you’re interested in learning about, especially if your goal is to lose weight. There are so many to choose from, it can be really confusing in terms of what actually works and what doesn’t. And with new fads appearing all the time, it can be tempting to jump on yet another diet bandwagon.

But let’s keep things simple and narrow the eating plan options down to proven options that will work for both weight loss and overall health.

Counting Calories

Counting calories probably what you’re most familiar with and is the most common way to lose weight or maintain it. It does require a database of the caloric values of foods and a calculator or pen and paper. A food diary to keep track of exactly what you eat will also help. You simply calculate the calorie counts for your favorite recipes and stick to reasonable portion sizes.

The recommended daily allowance of calories for men is 2,500, and for women, 2,000. This is assuming that the person is pretty active. For those of us who work at a desk every day and love the TV at night, 2,000 and 1,600 might be better options.

For this method, simply cut calories and increase exercise. You should see a slow, consistent weight loss.

Counting Carbs

Atkins is probably the original one of most famous of the low carb diets, with almost 50 years of results behind it. The theory is that carb calories make us fatter because they tend to get stored rather than burned, particularly as the dreaded belly fat. The Atkins induction program allows only 20 grams of carbs per day for the first 2 weeks, about 40 for stage 2 and about 60 to 80 for the maintenance phase, to help you keep off the weight you have lost.

To put these numbers into perspective, the average American eats a whopping average of 300 grams of carbs per day. Atkins is a pretty radical diet that will involve a good deal of counting to begin with. The advantage is that you can lose 10 to 20 pounds very quickly because of the significant changes in the chemical makeup of your body when you cut carbs. There are also lots of free resources online to help you.
Use a food diary to keep track.

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is modeled on the diet of the people in Italy, Greece, and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Their diet is made up of small portions of an average of 60 different foods each day. The foods are mainly fruits, vegetables, 3 portions of fish per week, and high-quality olive oil.

The Keto Diet

The Keto Diet is red hot right now. Keto is short for ketogenic. The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that is designed to provide rapid weight loss. Instead of counting calories, you count carbs. This is similar to the Atkins low carb diet, with some important differences. Simply put, the word ketogenic refers to the act of putting your body in the state of ketogenesis, the production of ketone bodies in the bloodstream. Ketones are the result of the breakdown of fat in the body.

The body normally gets its energy from carbohydrates. However, if you switch to low carb and eat only protein and fat, your body will have no choice but to start using the fat in your food or your body to get its fuel, and thus you will lose weight.

The Paleo Diet

Paleo is a lifestyle that involves eating whole, real, natural food and avoiding processed foods. The basic theory is that humans have only been eating the way we do now for about 10,000 years. Before that, people ate in a Paleo manner for a very, very long time…some estimates indicate more than two million years. In other words, humans and their bodies are meant to eat those foods that we used to eat, and not the highly processed, grain- based foods and sugar that only came into our diets most recently.

So, the Paleo diet aims to bring back those whole, real foods and to eliminate processed foods, sugar, refined sugar, grains, and hydrogenated vegetable oils that do nothing positive for our health and well-being.

So What’s the Best Eating Plan to Lose Weight?

There is no one right answer. Weight loss is a very individual thing. We’re all different, with varying physical needs and levels of activity. Some might have autoimmune conditions or other chronic illness which means restricting some foods. Some might appreciate the structure and organization of a group like Weight Watchers.

For me, after decades of yo-yo dieting and trying everything under the sun, I’ve finally settled in with Trim Healthy Mama for the past few years. Simply put, it’s more of a controlled carb food plan. It does have a learning curve but I didn’t really have trouble with that and I’ve lost 35 lbs, even being over 50! My blood work is generally very good, my blood pressure is normal and the dystonia pain has significantly reduced from less inflammation.

I hope this gives you some basic insight on the various eating plans out there! Do your homework and find what’s right for you.

With so much going on in the world, many of us feel we have a responsibility to stay up to date on world events that can potentially impact our families. But consuming a steady stream of sensationalized headlines and political conflicts can leave us feeling overwhelmed with social media overload.

Sometimes I find myself missing the “old days” when we read the newspaper in the morning and just watched the evening news later in the day. Now there’s a 24 hour news cycle of news stories, headlines and images that are carefully designed to make us react.

The next time you’re consuming media content, whether you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed or watching the news, be aware of how each story is impacting you. What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Now think about what impact they’re having on you. Do you feel discouraged or depressed after you close the browser tab?

Social networks are the business model of the attention economy. They are wholly dependent on eyeballs and clicks to make all of their revenue. To do this, they design algorithms that show you the most interesting and attention-grabbing information available in your social network. If your newsfeed was full of the boring and drab day-to-day stuff, you’d stop looking at it. So instead, Facebook shows you the most extreme occurrences in your social network for the simple reason that the extreme events draw the most attention.

This has drastic effects not only on our perceptions of society as a whole, but also on how we perceive our personal lives.

For me, social media used positively can be a good thing but I’m learning how to implement boundaries. As a special needs mom with chronic illness and a woman in recovery, it’s easy for me to feel isolated at times and social media offers a great place to connect with old friends and those who share my interests. Not only that, but it helps me to stay current with disability advocacy issues. But when I find myself using it to procrastinate about other things that I really should be doing, numb out or if I feel depressed after getting online, it’s time to reevaluate how I’m using it.

Learning how to practice mindfulness in my social media consumption has been really helpful. I’ve learned how to implement boundaries. For example, in 2008 when I first got my Facebook account, I got into a few stupid arguments that placed a strain on real life relationships. I don’t always want to know my friends’ political leanings but I’ve had to learn to live and let live. I very rarely comment on public threads or memes that I know are designed to provoke. I hide people from the news feed who constantly post stories that are triggering. I do try to stay informed on what’s important but don’t get sucked into everything.

How to Avoid Social Media Overload

1. Schedule Time for Social Media. Don’t check social media on autopilot. Create a plan that gives you certain times and days that you to check in on social media. If you don’t want to get sucked into the abyss, it’s really important to set boundaries.
2. Use Automation Wisely. If you’re a business owner and need to get on social media daily, learn how to automate social media tasks. You can automate post scheduling so you don’t have to do that every single day.
3. Focus on What Matters Most. If you’re a blogger or online business owner, when it comes to doing tasks on social media, money-making tasks should come first, then relationship building, then personal activities. If you focus on just whatever is in front of you when you check your social media, you’ll get sucked in. Develop a plan of attack.
4. Outsource. Find someone to help you with social media if youíre using it for business. There are many social media managers who are good at helping you do the job properly. If that’s not your main money-making activity, let someone else do it. (Shameless promo: I’m a virtual assistant and can help you lighten your social media load. Learn more here!)
5. Use the Right Tools. Sproutsocial.com, Hootsuite.com and similar tools can help you manage your social media, keeping you from being overloaded by information that doesn’t matter to you. Social aggregators can put all the information in one spot for you, making your tasks much faster.
6. Turn Off Notifications. There must be parts of your day where social media doesn’t come into play. When you’re in a meeting, when you’re with your family, when you’re out with friends; when you’re driving, or when you’re in the bathroom. These are just a few examples, but you get the idea. Just turn it off!
7. Avoid Multitasking. Sometimes when you try to do too much at once, you end up sucked into the social media black hole because your brain is trying to get a break. Instead, when you’re on social media, only do the social media that you’ve planned.
8. Be honest. Many times being busy feels good. It feels like you’re doing something and accomplishing something. But, the truth is, not all activities that make you busy are productive.It’s important that you develop the ability to be honest with yourself about why you’re really on the phone.
9. Practice Mindfulness. Whereever you are and whomever you’re with, be fully present with them. Practice the presence instead of being distracted by your phone. And when you do get online, take note of how you’re feeling first. If you’re already feeling stressed, anxious or depressed, it’s probably a good idea to do something else for awhile..something physical and tangible like going for a walk, journaling to get out of your head. If you’re looking to numb yourself, remember than social media can be abused just like any other substance like alcohol or food. And when you’re using it for the wrong reasons, chances are you’ll feel even worse afterwards.

I hope these practical suggestions help you to be more mindful about online activity and avoid social media overload.